Apparatus and method for recruiting, communicating with, and paying participants of interactive advertising

ABSTRACT

A method and apparatus for recruiting, communicating with, and paying participants of interactive advertising are described. The present invention is a system through which advertisers car recruit, communicate with, and pay their potential customers for their time. The system achieves these functions without the advertiser or the customer having to be in the same location—all logistics are handled through the system&#39;s web site, database, and communications interfaces. The system enables advertisers to promote interactive seminars in which they try to sell products to potential customers. Most importantly, the advertisers are able to offer their potential customers financial rewards for their time, such as 25 cents per minute to reward a customer for listening to a sales pitch. The system then provides a real-time communications link between the advertiser and customer. The system automatically bills the advertiser and rewards the customer for the time that they interact.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

[0001] The invention relates generally to providing users with incentivebased interactive advertisements. In particular, the invention relatesto a method and apparatus for recruiting, communicating with, and payingparticipants of interactive advertising.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

[0002] Advertisers seek to connect with their customers in the fullestway possible. Conventionally, this has been done by attempting to makean advertisement, such as a television commercial, humorous or alluring.For an even fuller experience, advertisers will run a commercial, or“infomercial,” for an entire half hour, often featuring a celebrity tokeep the customer's attention.

[0003] No matter how alluring the content or how long the commercial,however, such conventional advertising is severely limited because thecustomers have no incentive to keep watching except for their own ficklecuriosity. In addition, the simple viewing of an advertisement is not aninteractive experience between the advertiser and the potentialcustomer. Many advertisers, especially those offering complex products,require a dialogue with their potential customers. They need to have aconversation with their potential customers to find out their immediateneeds and answer their questions in order to sell them products.

[0004] To solve these limitations and make advertisements moreinteractive, advertisers have resorted to inviting customers to attendlive seminars in person and paying them for their time. Often thepayment will take the form of a reward, such as receiving a gas grillfor attending a seminar on time-share vacation homes. The customersbecome “participants,” as the advertisers ask them their opinions andquestions as they sell them products ranging from encyclopedias to cars.

[0005] These live sales seminars achieve the full interactivity thatadvertisers seek with their customers. The problem with the seminars isall their logistics must be done by hand. Customers must be selected andinvited to the seminar. The customers must travel to the location of theseminar. Both the customers and the advertisers must be in the samelocation at the same, pre-arranged time. The reward to attend theseminar, and the total attendance time required, must be fixed andagreed to beforehand, so that it is worth the trouble of travel. Paymentmust also be done manually, in accordance to the agreed reward. Insummary, holding such live advertising seminars is quite difficult, andin many cases prohibitively expensive, because there is no device forenabling them.

[0006] Therefore, there remains a need to overcome one or morelimitations in the above described existing art which is satisfied bythe inventive structure and method described hereinafter.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

[0007] The present invention overcomes the problems in the existing artdescribed above by providing a method and apparatus for recruiting,communicating with, and paying participants of interactive advertising.The present invention is a system through which advertisers can recruit,communicate with, and pay their potential customers for their time. Theproposed system achieves all of these functions without the advertiseror the customer having to be in the same location—all logistics arehandled through the proposed system's web site, database, andcommunications interfaces. The proposed system enables advertisers topromote interactive seminars in which they try to sell products topotential customers. Most importantly, the advertisers are able to offertheir potential customers financial rewards for their time, such as 25cents per minute to reward a customer for listening to a sales pitch.The proposed system then provides a real-time communications linkbetween the advertiser and customer. The proposed system automaticallybills the advertiser and rewards the customer for the time that theyinteract.

[0008] Advantages of the invention include providing users with thecapability to engage in a compensation-based interactive exchange with aprovider of a selected advertisement via a real-time communicationslink. Contrary to current practice, users of the present invention arecompensated for interacting with advertisers and engaging in seminars.Consequently, users are compensated and advertisers receive a constantflow of customers for their advertisement in which a user/customer canpurchase the product contained in the advertisement.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0009] The present invention is illustrated by way of example, and notby way of limitation, in the figures of the accompanying drawings and inwhich:

[0010]FIG. 1 depicts a block diagram illustrating a system in which aninteractive advertisement system in accordance with the presentinvention may be implemented;

[0011]FIG. 2 is a block diagram further illustrating the interactiveadvertisement system as shown in FIG. 1;

[0012]FIG. 3 depicts a web page illustrating a customer/user interfacescreen in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention;

[0013]FIG. 4 depicts a web page illustrating an advertiser interfacescreen in accordance with a further embodiment of the present invention;

[0014]FIG. 5 is a web page illustrating a banner advertisement screen inaccordance with a further embodiment of the present invention;

[0015]FIG. 6 is a web page illustrating a customer/user system sign upscreen in accordance with a further embodiment of the present invention;

[0016]FIG. 7 is a flow chart illustrating a method for enabling anadvertiser to recruit, communicate with and pay participants ofinteractive advertising in accordance with an embodiment of the presentinvention;

[0017]FIG. 8 is a flow chart illustrating an additional method foradding an interactive advertising link to the interactive advertisementsystem in accordance with a further embodiment of the present invention;

[0018]FIG. 9 depicts an additional method for billing an advertiser forinteraction with a customer in accordance with a further embodiment ofthe present invention;

[0019]FIG. 10 is a flow chart depicting an additional method forcompensating a user that has participated in an interactiveadvertisement;

[0020]FIG. 11 depicts an additional method for providing a publicopinion poll as an interactive advertisement in accordance with afurther embodiment of the present invention;

[0021]FIG. 12 is a flow chart illustrating a method for establishing aconnection between the interactive advertisement system and a user inaccordance with a further embodiment of the present invention;

[0022]FIG. 13 depicts an additional method for establishing acommunications link between a user and an advertiser of a selectedadvertising link in accordance with a further embodiment of the presentinvention; and

[0023]FIG. 14 depicts a flow chart illustrating an additional method forproviding additional incentives to users, as well as enabling users topurchase products described in the interactive advertisement inaccordance with a further embodiment of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0024] The present invention overcomes the problems in the existing artdescribed above by providing a method and apparatus for recruiting,communicating with, and paying participants of interactive advertising.In the following description, for the purposes of explanation, numerousspecific details are set forth in order to provide a thoroughunderstanding of the present invention. It will be apparent, however, toone skilled in the art that the present invention may be practicedwithout some of these specific details. In addition, the followingdescription provides examples, and the accompanying drawings showvarious examples for the purposes of illustration. However, theseexamples should not be construed in a limiting sense as they are merelyintended to provide examples of the present invention rather than toprovide an exhaustive list of all possible implementations of thepresent invention. In other instances, well-known structures and devicesare shown in block diagram form in order to avoid obscuring the detailsof the present invention.

[0025] In an embodiment, the methods of the present invention areembodied in machine-executable instructions. The instructions can beused to cause a general-purpose or special-purpose processor that isprogrammed with the instructions to perform the steps of the presentinvention. Alternatively, the steps of the present invention might beperformed by specific hardware components that contain hardwired logicfor performing the steps, or by any combination of programmed computercomponents and custom hardware components.

[0026] The present invention may be provided as a computer programproduct which may include a machine-readable medium having storedthereon instructions which may be used to program a computer (or otherelectronic devices) to perform a process according to the presentinvention. The machine-readable medium may include, but is not limitedto, floppy diskettes, optical disks, CD-ROMs, and magneto-optical disks,ROMs, RAMs, EPROMs, EEPROMs, magnetic or optical cards, flash memory, orother type of media/machine-readable medium suitable for storingelectronic instructions. Moreover, the present invention may also bedownloaded as a computer program product, wherein the program may betransferred from a remote computer (e.g., a server) to a requestingcomputer (e.g., a client) by way of data signals embodied in a carrierwave or other propagation medium via a communication link (e.g., a modemor network connection).

System Architecture

[0027]FIG. 1 depicts one embodiment of an interactive advertisementsystem architecture 100 in which the systems and methods of the presentinvention may be incorporated. The system 100 includes one or morecustomer/user computers 120 (120-1, . . . , 120-N) connected through anetwork 400 (such as an Intranet, an Extranet, a LAN or a WAN such asthe Internet) to a host computer or web server ( “advertisement servercomputer”). One or more service provider computers 204 (204-1, . . . ,204-N) are also connected, through the network 400, to the advertisementserver computer 300. Persons skilled in the art will recognize that theadvertisement server computer 300 may include one or more computersworking together to provide the advertisement computer functionsdescribed herein. The system 100 further includes one or moreadvertisers 200 (200-A, . . . , 200-N) each having a communicationsdevice 202 (202-1, . . . , 202-N) that is connected to a communicationsnetwork 110. One or more users 102 (102-1, . . . , 102-N) each also havea communications device 104 (104A, . . . , 104N) that is connected tothe communications network 110. In accordance with the teachings of thepresent invention, a user 102 can make a selection for an interactiveadvertisement link, which is received by the advertisement servercomputer 300. As described in further detail below, the advertisementserver computer 300 can then connect the user 102 to an advertiser 200of the selected advertisement link for a live conversation.

[0028] The communications network 110 generally refers to any type ofwire or wireless link enabling the transmission of voice data such as,but not limited to, a public switched telephone network, a wirelesscommunications network, a local area network, a wide area network or acombination of networks. The communications devices 104 and 202generally refer to any type of device (standard telephones, cellulartelephones, satellite telephones or the like) capable of receivingspeech from a user and providing the speech to a destination via acommunications network, such as the communications network 110. In anembodiment of the present invention, the communications network 110 is apublic switched telephone network and the voice transmission medium is atelephone.

[0029]FIG. 2 further illustrates the interactive advertisement system100, including the advertisement server computer 300, as well as theuser computer 120 and the service provider computer 204. Theadvertisement server computer 300 includes a central processing unit(CPU) 302, a user interface 304, a network interface 306, acommunications interface 308, a service provider database 310 and amemory 312. The advertisement server computer 300 can be any type ofcomputing device, such as, but not limited to, desktop computers, workstations, lap tops and/or mainframe computers. The communicationsinterface 308 as well as the network interface 306, are used to connectusers 102 and advertisers 200, depending on the type of interactiveadvertisement selected by the user 102. The communications interface 308connects user communication devices 104 with advertiser communicationdevices 202 for real-time communication over the communications network110. The network interface 306 connects user computers 120 andadvertiser computers 204 to provide voice over-IP (Internet Protocol) orvideo over-IP over network 400. The memory 312 of the advertisementserver computer 300 may be implemented as RAM (random access memory) ora combination of RAM and nonvolatile memory, such as one or moremagnetic disk storage units. The memory can contain any of thefollowing:

[0030] an operating system 314;

[0031] Internet access procedures 316;

[0032] web server procedures 318;

[0033] banner advertisement (AD) creation procedures 320 for generatingan interactive advertisement link as a banner AD of an advertiser website, search engine site or the like;

[0034] communication interface procedures 322 for connecting a user 102with an advertiser 200 of a selected advertisement via the usercommunication device 104 and the advertiser communication device 200over the communications network 110 for a live conversation;

[0035] AD selection procedures 324 for providing the user 102 with alist of fields of advertisement types provided by the interactiveadvertisement system 100, as well as lists of advertisements matching atype of advertisement selected by the user 102;

[0036] database (DB) access procedures 326 for querying the database 310in order to return records of advertisements matching a type ofadvertisement selected by the user 102;

[0037] payment procedures 328 for compensating the user 102 followinginteraction with an advertiser 200, as well as billing the advertiser200 for the interaction and collecting a premium fee for the interactiveadvertisement system 100;

[0038] AD inclusion procedures 330 for providing an on-line interface toadvertisers 200 requesting inclusion in the advertisement database 310in order to acquire perspective customers/users 102 for potentialinteraction via the interactive advertisement system 100;

[0039] advertiser interface procedures 332 for providing both an on-lineinterface, as well allowing advertisers 200 to update information in theservice provider database 310, including times of availability;

[0040] seminar AD procedures 334 for providing a real-timecommunications link between a user computer 120 and an advertisercomputer 204 for a live conversation between the user 102 and theadvertiser 200 using the network interface procedures 338;

[0041] user interface procedures 336 for providing the user 102 with alisting of types of advertisements available from the interactiveadvertisement system 100, as well as receiving various descriptors fornarrowing the search of advertisers, including acceptable paymentranges, specific languages and the like;

[0042] network interface procedures 338 for connecting user computers120 with advertiser computers 204 via a real-time communications linkproviding, for example, voice over-IP, video over-IP, or the like, for alive conversation between the user 102 and the advertiser 200;

[0043] opinion poll AD procedures 340 for providing public opinion polladvertisements at the advertisement system 100 web site or as banneradvertisement of various web sites and compensating the user 102 forfilling-out an opinion poll questionnaire, which is then transmitted tothe advertiser 200 of the opinion poll; and

[0044] other procedures and files.

[0045]FIG. 2 also illustrates the user computer 120, which includes aCPU 122, a user interface 124, a memory 128 and a communicationsinterface 126. The communications interface 126 is used to communicatewith the advertisement server computer 300, as well as other systemresources not shown. The memory 128 of the user computer 120 may beimplemented as RAM (random access memory) or a combination of RAM andnon-volatile memory, such as one or more magnetic disk storage units.The memory 128 can contain the following:

[0046] an operating system 130;

[0047] internet access procedures 132;

[0048] voice/video communication procedures 134 for enabling voiceover-IP, video over-IP, or like communication between the user 102 andthe advertiser 200; and

[0049] other procedures and files.

[0050]FIG. 2 also illustrates the advertiser computer 202, whichincludes a CPU 204, a user interface 206, a memory 210 and acommunications interface 208. The communications interface 208 is usedto communicate with the voice portal server computer 300, as well asother system resources not shown. The memory 210 of the service providercomputer 202 may be implemented as RAM (random access memory) or acombination of RAM and non-volatile memory, such as one or more magneticdisk storage units. The memory 210 can contain the following:

[0051] an operating system 212;

[0052] internet access procedures 214;

[0053] voice/video communication procedures 216 for enabling voiceover-IP, video over-IP, or like communication between the user 102 andthe advertiser 200; and

[0054] other procedures and files.

[0055] The embodiment depicted in FIG. 2 includes an advertisementdatabase 310 containing information about a wide array of advertisementsand their advertisers 200. In order to recruit, communicate with, andpay their potential customers for their time, advertisers 200 listthemselves, as well as their advertisement, in this database 310. In oneembodiment, this is done through the use of an Internet web site, via anadvertiser interface screen 550, as depicted in FIG. 4. The advertiser200 registers his/her name, phone number, e-mail address and networkaddress using the advertiser interface screen 550, along with adescription of the advertisement that he/she offers. Possible examplesof the wide array of fields of advertisement types available from theinteractive advertisement system 100 include, but are not limited to,the advertisement product types depicted in FIG. 3, such as seminars,opinion polls and the like. The description includes key wordsdescribing the field of service. The description also includes a pricepaid to the user 102 for feedback provider to the advertiser, mostcommonly, but not restricted to a per-minute price.

[0056] Referring now to FIG. 3, the current invention provides a systemthrough which an advertiser can execute all of the functions of a paidinteractive sales seminar with their customers. The system enables theadvertiser to hold this paid interactive seminar remotely, via theInternet, without having to bring people together in person. Forexample, a customer 102 can go to a web site customer interface screen500 and view the titles of a wide array of interactive seminars that aretaking place at any given time. The advertiser can use a controlinterface (not shown) to turn a seminar “on” or “off”. When the seminaris turned “on”, the customer's view shows a “Join Seminar” button 502.When a seminar is turned “off”, it disappears from the customer's view,or it displays the future time when the seminar will take place 504.

[0057] The advertiser 200 can control the reward that is offered to thecustomer 102 to take part in the seminar. The reward could beper-minute, such as $0.50 per minute, such that if the customer tookpart for ten minutes, the customer would be paid $5.00. The reward couldalso be a flat amount, such as $10.00 or various other forms of payment.It could also be contingent on information that the customer 102 wouldprovide during the seminar.

[0058] As depicted in FIG. 3, the customer 102 can view all of theinteractive seminars that are currently turned “on” and can view adescription of each one as well as the reward offered. For instance, acustomer 102 could compare the description of a seminar 506 that isadvertising exercise machines for a 25-cents-per-minute reward 508versus one that is advertising vacation homes 510 for a30-cents-per-minute reward 512. In each case, the customer could readabout the products that will be advertised. Once the customer 102decides which seminar to take part in, the customer 102 presses the“Join Seminar” button 502 which initiates a real-time communicationslink between the advertiser and the customer.

[0059] In one embodiment, this communications link will be in the formof a telephone call. The system 100 will call the customer 102 via thetelephone 104 using communication interface 308 and the communicationinterface procedures 322. Upon the customer 102 accepting the call, thesystem 100 will place a separate telephone call to the advertiser 300.Upon the advertiser 200 accepting the call, the system 100 willconference together the two telephone calls, thereby connecting theadvertiser 200 and customer via a real-time voice communications link110. In this embodiment, since the system 100 initiates both telephonecalls, the anonymity of both parties is preserved—neither party hasknowledge of the other's telephone number. This embodiment also enablesthe system 100 to keep track of the time that the advertiser 200 andcustomer 102 spend communicating.

[0060] In one embodiment, the time the advertiser 200 spendscommunicating with the customer becomes the basis for rewarding thecustomer in accordance with the payment procedures 328. For instance, ifthe seminar has a 25-cents-per-minute reward, and the advertiser 200 andcustomer 102 speak on the telephone for 10 minutes, the system willautomatically bill the advertiser $2.50 and credit the customer $2.50.The system can also collect a commission for maintaining the service,such as a 10% commission.

[0061] Alternatively, the communications link could be in the form ofvoiceover-IP, using the network interface 306 and network interfaceprocedures 338. As such, the advertiser 200 and customer 102 can speakdirectly through their computers, 102 and 204 or handheld “personaldigital assistants” , over the Internet 400. The communications linkcould be in the form of a toll-free 1-800 phone call. For example, thecustomer would choose a seminar that is in session, then dial1-800-SEMINAR and enter the seminar's specific extension, such as #4586,to connect to the desired seminar. The communications link could be inthe form of a video connection, video-over-IP or otherwise, such thatthe advertiser 200 and customer 102 could see a real-time videoconferencing image of the other party. Alternatively, the communicationslink could enable the customer to listen or view recorded informationthat the advertiser has prepared. Many customers could access thisrecorded information at the same time. The customer who listens torecorded information could upgrade the connection to a live presentationif the information is of interest. Using voice or video over-IP, a salesseminar could be a one-on-one communication between the advertiser 200and the customer 102 or a one-to-many communication between theadvertiser 200 and many customers 102.

[0062] For instance, an advertiser could present the benefits of buyinga vacation home to 100 people who have clicked on “Join Seminar” and arein a realtime communication for 10 cents per minute with the advertiser200. Additionally, the sales seminar could be limited to a certainnumber of customers. For instance, when the maximum number of 10customers are in contact with the advertiser, the seminar is turned“off” to further customers and the “Join Seminar” button no longerappears. Finally, extra rewards could be offered for input from thecustomers. For instance, if a customer tells a story about what hisideal vacation home would be like, he or she might receive an additionaldollar or an increased per-minute reward.

[0063] In a further embodiment, the advertiser 200 can choose touninvite a customer 102 from a seminar in progress. For instance, if theadvertiser feels that one of the customers is not interested or iscollecting money without offering satisfactory input, the advertisercould use the system's control interface to select a customer and removehim or her from the seminar, thereby halting the monetary reward to thatcustomer. Likewise, the customer can move from one seminar to the next.The customer could “shop” one advertiser after the other, hearing avariety of advertising messages and collecting many different rewardsfor doing so.

[0064] In a further embodiment, the customer 102 could not only use thesystem to hear the sales seminar, but he or she could also buy theproduct through the system 100. For instance, after listening to theadvertiser 200 describe a set of encyclopedias via the telephone 104 for25 cents per minute, the customer 102 could press “9” on the telephone'stouch-tone keypad, which would trigger a purchase. The price of theencyclopedias would be automatically deducted from the customer'sbalance, and the encyclopedias would be sent to the customer 102. Insuch a case, the price the customer 102 paid could be deducted from therewards the customer 102 had earned thus far from taking part in theseminar. As the customer accrues rewards by attending seminars, and,when the customer has accrued a significant amount, such as $25, thesystem 100 would issue his or her check in the mail. Otherwise, thecustomer accrues rewards by attending seminars, and the rewards areautomatically transferred in the form of digital cash from theadvertiser to the customer as the seminar is in progress.

[0065] Referring now to FIG. 5, an embodiment is depicted wherein thecustomer 100 does not come to a central online marketplace to view thepossible seminars that can be attended. Instead the advertiser 208 sendstargeted invitations to customers 102. For example, at a newspaper website, the customer 102 is shown a banner advertisement 600 that offers40 cents per minute to listen to a seminar about auto stereo systems.The customer clicks on the advertisement 602, which triggers thereal-time communications connection between the advertiser 200 andcustomer 102 through, for example, the telephone 202 and 104. During thecall, 40 cents per minute is automatically transferred from theadvertiser 200 to the customer 102 as the seminar takes place.Alternatively, the reward to take part in the seminar would not be paidby the advertiser 200 to the customer 102, but rather by the customer102 to the advertiser 200. For example, if the goods being advertisedwere in extremely high demand, the advertiser 200 could charge customers102 a per-minute fee to take part in the sales seminar. Proceduralmethods for implementing the teachings of the present invention are nowdescribed.

Operation

[0066] Referring now to FIG. 7, a method 700 is depicted for enabling anadvertiser 200 of an interactive advertisement link to recruit,communicate with and pay a participant 102 of an interactiveadvertisement, for example, in the interactive advertisement system 100,as depicted in FIGS. 1 and 2. At step 710, the system 100 provides oneor more online interactive advertising links as depicted in FIG. 4. Atstep 730, the system 100 receives a selection from a user 102 for aselected advertisement link listed among the one or more interactiveadvertising links. At step 740, the system 100 establishes acommunication link between the user 102 and an advertiser 200 of theselected advertising link.

[0067] As described above, the communications link between the user 102and the advertiser includes live interaction via the user communicationdevice 104 and the advertiser communication device 202 or via the usercomputer 120 and the advertiser computer 204. The user communicationdevice 104, as well as the advertiser communication device 202, includebut are not limited to land-line telephones, wireless cellulartelephones, satellite telephones or the like, which communicate over thecommunications network 110. Communication via the user computer 120 andthe advertiser computer 202 include real-time communication, includingbut not limited to voice over-IP or video over-IP, or the like. However,those skilled in the art will appreciate that other means ofcommunication, such as non-real-time communication, required for fillingout public opinion polls, or for providing recorded advertisements, areincluded within the scope of the invention. At step 760, the system 100compensates the user 102 based on various input provided to theadvertiser 200 during interaction therebetween. The compensation maycome in the form of a time-based fee paid to the user 102 or a flat feepaid by the advertiser 200.

[0068]FIG. 8 depicts an additional method for placing an interactiveadvertisement link on a customer interface screen 500 of the interactiveadvertisement system 100, as depicted in FIG. 3. At step 702, the system100 receives a request from an advertiser to establish an interactiveadvertisement link via the advertiser interface screen 550, as depictedat FIG. 4. At step 704, the system 100 places a link for an interactiveadvertisement among the one or more interactive advertisement links.

[0069]FIG. 9 depicts an additional method for performing the usercompensation step 760, as depicted in FIG. 7. At step 762, the system100 bills the advertiser 200 a billing amount for the interaction withthe user. At step 770, the system 100 transfers the billing amount tothe user 102. As described above, the billing amount includes but is notlimited to a time-based fee or a flat fee. However, first time users ofthe interactive advertisement system 100 fill out a customerregistration screen 650 prior to participations as depicted in FIG. 6.Alternatively, an advertiser may provide a product with very limitedpublic availability, for example, limited edition products or hard tofind items, due to great consumer demand. As such, the user could becharged by the advertiser for the ability to purchase the highly desiredproduct.

[0070] Referring now to FIG. 10, FIG. 10 depicts an additional methodfor performing the advertiser billing step 762, as depicted in FIG. 9.At step 764, the system 100 measures a duration of the interactionbetween the user 102 and the advertiser 200. At step 766, the system 100calculates the billing amount based on the payment procedures 328. Forexample, the billing amount may be based on the duration of theinteraction between the user 102 and the advertiser 200 and a time-basedprice paid by the advertiser.

[0071] Referring now to FIG. 11, FIG. 11 depicts an additional methodrequired for selection of an interactive opinion poll advertisementlink. At step 742, the system 100 provides a user 102 that selected anopinion poll link with an online questionnaire. Once the user hascompleted the questionnaire at step 744, the system 110 transmits thecompleted questionnaire to an advertiser 200 of the opinion poll at step746 using the opinion AD procedures 340. Although these method stepsdescribe the interactive opinion poll as requiring the filling out of aquestionnaire by the user 102, those skilled in the art will appreciatethat a real-time communications link may be established between the user102 and an advertiser 200 of the public opinion poll to provide liveinteraction, either via the communications devices 202 and 104 or overthe computers 120 and 204 in order to provide a real-time interactionbetween the user 102 and the advertiser 200.

[0072]FIG. 12 depicts a method for establishing a connection between auser 102 and the interactive advertisement system 100. At step 720, thesystem 100 receives a request from a user 102 for connection to theinteractive advertisement system 100 via a communications link. Thecommunications link will generally be over the network 400 connected tothe user computer 120. However, those skilled in the art will appreciatethat the user may establish a connection with the interactiveadvertisement system 100 via the user communication device 104.Consequently, the advertisement system could process voice commands viathe communications interface 308 in order to connect the user 102 withan advertiser of a selected advertisement link. This connection enablesa live interaction via the communications network 110 and compensatesthe user 102 for participation in the interactive advertisement. At step722, the system 100 establishes a connection between the user 102 andthe advertisement system 100. Finally, at step 724, the system 100provides the user with a wide array of advertisement types availablefrom the advertisement system. The various advertisement types availablefrom the advertisement system include, but are not limited to, productadvertisements, opinion polls, product seminars and the like as depictedin FIG. 3.

[0073] Referring now to FIG. 13, FIG. 13 depicts an additional methodfor establishing the real-time communications connection of step 740, asdepicted in FIG. 7. At step 750, a real-time video communications linkbetween one or more users 102 and an advertiser 200 of a selectedinteractive seminar is established by the system 100. As such, thesystem 100 enables the advertiser to hold a paid interactive seminarremotely via the Internet without having to bring people together inperson. At step 752, the system 100 provides additional incentive-basedlinks to the one or more users to provide additional feedback. Suchadditional incentives include, for example, providing creditdescriptions or additional personal information which users might bereluctant to initially divulge. Finally, at step 754, the system 110enables the user to purchase one or more products advertised by theinteractive seminar.

[0074] Finally, FIG. 14 depicts a method for providing additionalincentives and product purchase options to the user 102 such asdescribed with reference to the flow chart illustrated in FIG. 13. Assuch, at step 780, the system provides additional incentive-based linksto the user to provide additional feedback. At step 782, the system 100enables the user to purchase one or more products advertised by theinteractive advertisement. As such, additional incentives can beprovided in regular product advertisements and the user is enabled topurchase products in each type of advertisement.

Application of the Invention

[0075] Cindy is a marketer for a company that sells vacation homes. Shedoes most of her business selling not entire vacation homes, but ratherselling time-shares. In other words, her clients buy the right to stayin a vacation home for certain periods of time during the year. Otherclients buy the right to stay in the same vacation home for differentperiods of time during the year. Because she has a variety of vacationhomes to offer and each one can possibly be time-shared among manydifferent clients, Cindy needs to have a thorough dialogue with hercustomers. She needs to thoroughly understand their desires: in whatlocation they would like to have a vacation home, what kind of houseshould it be, would they be willing to share it with other customers ina time-share arrangement, and during which time periods of the yearwould they want to do so.

[0076] Because Cindy needs to have a thorough interactive dialogue withher potential customers, she uses the proposed system to interact withher customers and reward them for hearing her sales pitch. At the onlinemarketplace of the proposed system, Cindy has created a seminar title:“Looking to buy a vacation home? Discuss the possibilities here!” Shehas also specified a fee of 25 cents per minute that rewards potentialcustomers for listening to her sales pitch. She is also offering anadditional $2 reward for potential customers who are willing to revealtheir credit history during the session. In order to pay these rewards,Cindy enters her credit card number at the web site of the proposedsystem so she can be charged for the time that potential clients speakwith her. Because Cindy needs to speak in depth with each potentialcustomer, she limits this seminar to one potential customer at a time.

[0077] Whenever Cindy is ready to interact with potential customers, sheuses the control interface of the proposed system to turn her seminar“on.” At the online marketplace of the proposed system, this makes a“Join Seminar” button appear next to her seminar title, welcomingpotential customers to talk to her.

[0078] Roger is a frequent traveler who enjoys vacation trips. Havinggone on several trips and travel cruises, he receives an enormous amountof promotional material in the mail and many unsolicited telemarketingphone calls. Roger, however, is not willing to spend his free timelistening to the sales pitches of travel companies. Instead, he believesthat advertisers should pay him for his time when they pitch him theiroffers. He therefore does much of his shopping at the web site of theproposed system. There, he can examine a large array of offers thatadvertisers are willing to pay him to see. There are paid seminars onexercise equipment, paid seminars on cookware, even paid seminars thatrequire a special invitation to take part in.

[0079] Since he is interested in vacationing, Roger goes to the area ofthe web site that deals with vacations. There, he sees the titles ofmany seminars that he can join at the present time. Next to each title,he can see the per-minute reward that he would receive if he takes partin the seminar. He sees a seminar that interests him: “Looking to buy avacation home? Discuss the possibilities here!” He reads a brief textdescription of the vacation homes that will be discussed in the seminar.Next to the description is the per-minute reward: the advertiser (Cindy)is offering him a reward of 25 cents per minute to take part in theseminar.

[0080] Since he would like to take part in the seminar, Roger pressesthe “Join Seminar” button. The web site then asks him for his telephonenumber so that he can join the seminar. After he enters it, the proposedsystem calls him on the telephone. The proposed system then calls theadvertiser of this seminar, Cindy, on the telephone. The two parties arethen conferenced together. They are informed that Roger will receive 20cents per minute from Cindy for the duration of this call.

[0081] Roger and Cindy speak in depth about vacation homes. Cindy askshim all about his vacationing needs, and Roger explains his likes anddislikes, as well as his price range. With this information in mind,Cindy describes a time-share arrangement in which Roger could pay arelatively small amount to enjoy a vacation home for one week inFlorida. This sounds like a good option to Roger.

[0082] Cindy feels that she is close to a sale with Roger, but wouldfeel better if she would know his credit history. She therefore tellshim that she is offering a $2 reward if he reveals his credit history toher. Roger does so, providing the necessary information, and Cindypresses the number “5” on her telephone keypad, which instructs theproposed system to transfer an additional $2 reward from her accountinto Roger's.

[0083] Cindy is satisfied with her customer Roger, and Roger would liketo purchase the one-week time-share that she had recommended. Hetherefore presses the number “9” on his telephone keypad, whichinstructs the proposed system that he would like to initiate a purchase.As a supplemental feature, the proposed system then uses a series oftelephony prompts to lead Roger through the steps of a purchase. Cindyand Roger then hang up their telephones. They talked for a total oftwenty minutes.

[0084] The proposed system then automatically does the accounting forwhat occurred. Since Cindy and Roger talked for twenty minutes, Rogerearned a reward of 20 minutes multiplied times 25 cents per minute,which equals $5. The proposed system transfers $5 from Cindy's accountto Roger's, minus a 10% fee that is collected by the system. Theproposed system also transfers the extra $2 from Cindy's account toRoger's to compensate him for revealing his credit history. As asupplemental feature, the proposed system also transfers the price ofRoger's purchase from his account into Cindy's.

[0085] After this interaction, Roger continues to “shop” differentseminars and earn money for doing so. Some of them are one-to-oneseminars, such as Cindy's. Others are one-to-many, where Roger is one ofmany customers listening to a sales pitch. Some seminars are forinvitees only. After Roger attends many seminars, he accrues $40 in hisaccount at the proposed system. At the end of the month, the proposedsystem sends him a check in the mail.

Alternate Embodiments

[0086] The foregoing description, for purposes of explanation, usedspecific nomenclature to provide a thorough understanding of theinvention. However, it will be apparent to one skilled in the art thatthe specific details are not required in order to practice theinvention. In other instances, well known components and devices areshown in block diagram form in order to avoid unnecessary distractionfrom the underlying invention. Thus, the foregoing descriptions ofspecific embodiments of the present invention are presented for purposesof illustration and description. They are not intended to be exhaustiveor to limit the invention to the precise forms disclosed, obviously manymodifications and variations are possible in view of the aboveteachings. The embodiments were chosen and described in order to bestexplain the principles of the invention and its practical applications,to thereby enable others skilled in the art to best utilize theinvention and various embodiments with various modifications as aresuited to the particular use contemplated. It is intended that the scopeof the invention be defined by the following claims and theirequivalents.

[0087] Further, the method and system described hereinabove is amenablefor execution on various types of executable mediums other than a memorydevice such as a random access memory. Other types of executable mediumscan be used, such as but not limited to, a computer readable storagemedium which can be any memory device, compact disc, or floppy disk.

[0088] Although the present invention has been described with referenceto an incentive-based interactive advertisement system, it is notlimited to providing advertisements over the Internet. The presentinvention can be used for other electronic commerce purposes, othercommodities, other types of provider, and other types of services notexplicitly listed. In addition, voice and video transmission mediumswithin the contemplation of the present invention include systems forwireless communications or any network capable of transmitting voicedata, voice and video-over-IP, or the like. Moreover, performance, by ahuman operator, of the interactive voice recognition procedures of thepresent invention is within the contemplation of the present invention.

[0089] Advantages of the invention include providing users with thecapability to engage in a compensation-based interactive exchange with aprovider of a selected advertisement via a real-time communicationslink. Contrary to current practice, users of the current system arecompensated for interacting with advertisers and engaging in seminars.Consequently, users are compensated and advertisers receive a constantflow of customers for their advertisement in which a user/customer canpurchase the product contained in the advertisement.

[0090] Having disclosed exemplary embodiments and the best mode,modifications and variations may be made to the disclosed embodimentswhile remaining within the scope of the invention as defined by thefollowing claims.

What is claimed is:
 1. A method comprising: providing one or moreinteractive advertising links; receiving, from one or more users, one ormore selections for a selected advertising link from the one or moreinteractive advertising links; establishing a communications linkbetween the one or more users and an advertiser of the selectedadvertising link; and compensating the one or more users based onvarious input provided to the advertiser during interaction therebetween via the communications link.
 2. The method of claim 1, furthercomprising: receiving a request from an advertiser to establish aninteractive advertising link; and placing a link for an interactiveadvertisement among the one or more interactive advertising links. 3.The method of claim 2, further comprising: generating a record in anadvertiser database, the record including advertiser informationcontained in the request, wherein the advertiser information includesone or more of a compensation price, real-time advertiser availability,specific type of the advertisement, languages spoken by the advertiserand additional compensation incentives.
 4. The method of claim 1,wherein the compensating the one or more users further comprises:billing the advertiser a billing amount for each interaction with theone or more users; and transferring the billing amount to the one ormore users.
 5. The method of claim 4, wherein the billing the advertiserfurther comprises: measuring a duration of the interaction between theone or more users and the advertiser; and calculating the billing amountfor the advertiser based on the duration of the interaction and atime-based price paid by the advertiser.
 6. The method of claim 1,wherein the one or more interactive advertisement links include one ormore interactive public opinion polls, such that a user selecting apublic opinion poll is compensated for providing his/her opinion andwherein the establishing the communications link further comprises:providing a user that selected a public opinion poll link with an onlinequestionnaire of the public opinion poll; and once the user completesthe questionnaire, transmitting the questionnaire to an advertiser ofthe public opinion poll link.
 7. The method of claim 1, wherein eachselection from a user includes one or more of a category of advertisers,an advertiser payment price, advertiser type and advertisement.
 8. Themethod of claim 1, wherein prior to the receiving the one or moreselections from the one or more users, the method further comprises:receiving a request from a user for connection to an interactiveadvertisement system via a communications link; establishing aconnection between the user and the interactive advertisement system inorder to provide the user with an interaction with a chosen advertiser;and providing the user with a list of the wide array of advertisementtypes available from the interactive advertisement system.
 9. The methodof claim 1, wherein the one or more interactive advertising linksinclude one or more interactive seminar links and following selection ofa selected interactive seminar by the one or more users, theestablishing the communications link further comprises: establishing areal-time video communications link between the one or more users and anadvertiser of the selected interactive seminar; providing additionalincentive-based links to the one or more users to provide additionalfeedback; and enabling the one or more users to purchase one or moreitems advertised by the interactive seminar.
 10. The method of claim 1,wherein following the establishing the communications link, the methodfurther comprises: providing additional incentive-based links to the oneor more users to provide additional feedback; and enabling the user topurchase one or more items advertised by the selected advertising link.11. The method of claim 1, wherein the compensating the one or moreusers further comprises: enabling a user to purchase an advertisedproduct with limited availability, such that the user is compensated byhaving the ability to purchase the advertised product.
 12. The method ofclaim 11, further comprising: charging the user a predetermined amountsuch that the user is compensated by having the ability to purchase theadvertised product; and transferring the predetermined amount to theadvertiser.
 13. The method of claim 11, further comprising: using atelephone as the communications link between the user and the advertiserof the selected advertising link.
 14. The method of claim 1, whereinproviding the one or more interactive advertising links furthercomprises: receiving, from an advertiser interface, a request toactivate an interactive seminar included among the one or moreinteractive advertising links; activating the seminar, such that one ormore users can select and participate in the interactive seminar;receiving, from the advertise interface, a request to de-activate theinteractive seminar once the seminar is closed; and de-activating theinteractive seminar, such that additional users can no longerparticipate in the interactive seminar.
 15. The method of claim 1,wherein the establishing a communications link, further comprises:providing the one or more users with a recorded version of the selectedadvertisement; and enabling the one or more users to purchase one ormore advertised products.
 16. A computer readable storage mediumincluding program instruction that directs a computer to function in aspecified manner when executed by a processor, the program instructionscomprising: providing one or more interactive advertising links;receiving, from one or more users, one or more selections for a selectedadvertising link from the one or more interactive advertising links;establishing a communications link between the one or more users and anadvertiser of the selected advertising link; and compensating the one ormore users based on various input provided to the advertiser duringinteraction there between via the real-time communications link.
 17. Thecomputer readable storage medium of claim 16, further comprising:receiving a request from an advertiser to establish an interactiveadvertising link; and placing a link for an interactive advertisementamong the one or more interactive advertising links.
 18. The computerreadable storage medium of claim 17, further comprising: generating arecord in an advertiser database, the record including advertiserinformation contained in the request, wherein the advertiser informationincludes one or more of a compensation price, real-time advertiseravailability, specific type of the advertisement, languages spoken bythe advertiser and additional compensation incentives.
 19. The computerreadable storage medium of claim 16, wherein the instruction forcompensating the user further comprises instructions of: billing theadvertiser a billing amount for each interaction with the one or moreusers; and transferring the billing amount to the one or more users. 20.The computer readable storage medium of claim 19, wherein the billingthe advertiser further comprises instructions of: measuring a durationof the interaction between the one or more users and the advertiser; andcalculating the billing amount for the advertiser based on the durationof the interaction and a time-based price paid by the advertiser. 21.The computer readable storage medium of claim 16, wherein the one ormore interactive advertisement links include one or more interactivepublic opinion polls, such that a user selecting a public opinion pollis compensated for providing his/her opinion and wherein theestablishing the communications link further comprises instructions of:providing a user that selected a public opinion poll link with an onlinequestionnaire of the public opinion poll; and once the user completesthe questionnaire, transmitting the questionnaire to an advertiser ofthe public opinion link.
 22. The computer readable storage medium ofclaim 16, wherein each selection from a user includes one or more of acategory of advertisers, an advertiser payment price, advertiser typeand advertisement.
 23. The computer readable storage medium of claim 16,wherein prior to the instruction for receiving the one or moreselections from the one or more users, the computer readable storagemedium further comprises instructions of: receiving a request from auser for connection to an interactive advertisement system via acommunications link; establishing a connection between the user and theinteractive advertisement system in order to provide the user with aninteraction with a chosen advertiser; and providing the user with a listof the wide array of advertisement types available from the interactiveadvertisement system.
 24. The computer readable storage medium of claim16, wherein the one or more interactive advertising links include one ormore interactive seminar links and following selection of a selectedinteractive seminar by the one or more users, the establishing thecommunications link further comprises the instructions of: establishinga real-time video communications link between the one or more users anda provider of the selected interactive seminar; providing additionalincentive-based links to the one or more users to provide additionalfeedback; and enabling the one or more users to purchase one or moreitems advertised by the interactive seminar.
 25. The computer readablestorage medium of claim 16, wherein following the establishing areal-time communications link, the computer readable storage mediumfurther includes instructions of: providing additional incentive-basedlinks to the one or more users to provide additional feedback; andenabling the one or more users to purchase one or more items advertisedby the selected interactive advertising link.
 26. The computer readablestorage medium of claim 16, wherein the instruction for compensating theuser further comprises instructions of: enabling a user to purchase anadvertised product with limited availability, such that the user iscompensated by having the ability to purchase the advertised product.27. The computer readable storage medium of claim 16, further comprisingthe instructions of: charging the user a predetermined amount such thatthe user is compensated by having the ability to purchase the advertisedproduct; and transferring the predetermined amount to the advertiser.28. The computer readable storage medium of claim 16, further comprisingthe instructions of: using a telephone as the communications linkbetween the user and the advertiser of the selected advertising link.29. The computer readable storage medium of claim 16, wherein the methodcomprising providing one or more interactive advertising links furthercomprises: receiving, from an advertiser interface, a request toactivate an interactive seminar included among the one or moreinteractive advertising links; activating the seminar such that one ormore users can select and participate in the interactive seminar;receiving, from the advertise interface, a request to de-activate theinteractive seminar once the seminar is closed; and de-activating theinteractive seminar, such that additional users can no longerparticipate in the interactive seminar.
 30. The computer readablestorage medium of claim 16, wherein the establishing a communicationslink, further comprises: providing the one or more users with a recordedversion of the selected advertisement; and enabling the one or moreusers to purchase one or more advertised products.
 31. An onlineincentive-based advertising system comprising: a user interface forreceiving one or more selection requests from one or more users for aninteractive advertisement from one or more interactive advertisementlinks stored in an advertisement database; a processor to receive theone or more selection requests from the one or more users for a selectedinteractive advertisement from the user interface, and establish acommunications link between the one or more users and a provider of theselected interactive advertisement for interaction via thecommunications link; and a compensation procedure to compensate the userbased on various input provided to the advertiser during interactiontherebetween via the communications link.
 32. The system of claim 31,wherein the user interface: provides the user with a list of fields ofadvertisements, accepts a type of advertisements desired by the user,provides the user with a list of interactive advertisements stored inthe advertisement database which match the type of advertisement desiredby the user, and a receive the selection from the user for a selectedadvertiser.
 33. The system of claim 31, further comprising: anadvertiser interface for receiving a request from an advertiser toestablish an interactive advertising link, and generate a record in theadvertisement database, the record including provider informationcontained in the request.
 34. The system of claim 33, wherein theprovider information includes one or more of a compensation price,real-time advertiser availability, specific type of the advertisement,languages spoken by the advertiser and additional compensationincentives.
 35. The system of claim 31, wherein the communications linkfurther comprises: a public switched telephone network interface toconnect the user to the advertiser of the selected advertisement. 36.The system of claim 31, wherein the communications link furthercomprises: a wireless communications network interface to connect theuser to the advertiser of the selected advertisement.
 37. The system ofclaim 31, wherein the communications link further comprises: a videolink to connect the user to the advertiser of the selectedadvertisement.
 38. The system of claim 31, wherein the communicationslink further comprises: a voice communication link to connect the userto the advertiser of the selected advertisement.
 39. The system of claim31, further comprising: a banner advertisement link procedure togenerate an interactive advertisement link as a web page banneradvertisement of an advertiser web site.
 40. The system of claim 31,further comprising: a banner advertisement link procedure to generate aninteractive advertisement link as a web page banner advertisement of asearch engine web site.